Giant Traveling Map Lesson
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Giant Traveling Map Lesson TITLE / AUTHOR: Illinoisians on the Move / Stacey Mosquera ILLINOIS ACADEMIC STANDARDS / SUITABLE DISCIPLINES: Geographic Representations SS.G.1.3. Locate major landforms and bodies of water on a map or other representation. SS.G.1.4. Construct and interpret maps of Illinois and the United States using various media. Human-Environment Interaction SS.G.2.3. Compare how people modify and adapt to the environment and culture in our community to other places. SS.G.2.4. Analyze how the cultural and environmental characteristics of places in Illinois change over time. SS.G.1.5. Investigate how the cultural and environmental characteristics of places within the United States change over time. SS.G.2.6-8.MdC. Compare and contrast the cultural and environmental characteristics of different places or regions. Human Population SS.G.2.K. Identify and explain how people and goods move from place to place. SS.G.3.4. Describe some of the current movements of goods, people, jobs, or information to, from, or within Illinois, and explain reasons for the movements. SS.G.2.5. Describe how humans have utilized natural resources in the United States. SS.G.3.6-8.LC. Explain how environmental characteristics impact human migration and settlement. SS.G.7.9-12. Evaluate how economic activities and political decisions impact spatial patterns within and among urban, suburban, and rural regions. Civic and Political Institutions SS.CV.2.9-12: Evaluate the opportunities and limitations of participation in elections, voting, and electoral process. SS.CV.3.9-12: Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, and agreements on the maintenance of order, justice, equality and liberty. SS.CV.4.9-12: Explain how the US Constitution established a system of government that has powers, responsibilities, and limits that have changed over time and are still contested while promoting the common good and protecting rights. Processes, Rules, and Laws SS.CV.9.9-12: Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes and related consequences. SS.CV.10.9-12: Explain the role of compromise and deliberation in the legislative process. OBJECTIVES: Participants will: • Learn about major cities in Illinois during three different historical periods • Practice using grids and cardinal directions to locate cities in the state • Practice using latitude and longitude lines (if appropriate for grade level) • Analyze change over time • Discuss topics such as the census (source of data), distribution of resources in the state, and implications of changes in population for political representation at various levels of government RECOMMENDED GRADES: Fourth through adult TIME NEEDED: 20 to 25 minutes, depending on whether discussion is held as part of the map visit or at a later time MATERIALS: • Compass rose • 15 flat markers • 15 tall cones • 15 shorter, flexible cones • 2 or 3 plastic chains • List of Illinois cities by population for 1860/1930/2010 (some cities are not on the map and will need to be found by using latitude and longitude lines at the sides of the map – attached) PREPARATION: • Discussion about the reasons why people choose to live in different places • Review of historical settlement patterns in Illinois • Development of predictions by participants about where they think people might live RULES: • Shoes are not allowed on the map. Please have participants remove shoes before walking on the map. • Participants should wear socks while walking on the Giant Map. • No writing utensils on the map. • No sliding on the map. DIRECTIONS: Using the list of cities and colored cones, participants will locate the fifteen most populous cities in Illinois for the years 1860, 1930, and 2010. They will then look for trends based on the east/west axis and north/south axis, speculating about the factors that contributed to populations among the various regions of the state. On the map: 1. Provide participants with an overview about exploring the top fifteen populated places in Illinois in 1860, 1930, and 2010 using U.S. Census data as a source of information. 2. Ask participants about the kinds of jobs they imagine people were doing in Illinois in 1860. Ask them to predict where people might be living. Consider push and pull factors in migration. 3. Take 15 of the round makers. Pass them out to 15 of the participants (usually just ask them to take one and pass the remainder along). 4. Read the 15 largest cities one at a time, going down the row of participants and asking the participants to place the marker on the dot identifying the town (star in the case of Columbus). 5. Remind the participants that they can provide assistance to their classmates about the location of a city based on cardinal directions or the grid. They should avoid shouting “over there”, “this way”, etc. 6. After the flat, round markers are all on the map, ask the participants to interpret the new information that has been added to the map. 7. Move on to the 1930 census and ask participants what jobs people were doing then. Ask them to predict where people might be living. 8. Pass out the 15 larger cones. Assign individuals participants to place their cones on the 15 cities. For cities in the top 15 in 1860 and 1930, have participants pick up the red marker and place it on top of the cone. 9. After the larger cones are all on the map, repeat Item 6 above, asking them to think about what has changed and why. 10. Repeat process with 2010 census data and smaller or flexible orange cones. Have participants put the orange cone on top of the flat, round marker creating a pyramid, or on top of the large cone if the city was in the top 15 only in 1930. 11. Discuss where most of the people live and why. This is also an opportunity to review the concentration of people in the state in terms of electoral districts. GUIDING QUESTIONS: Tell participants that at the beginning of Illinois history agriculture was a main industry in the state. Ask what other factors might have influenced where people settled. The initial attraction to Illinois and its prairie drew a wide variety of farming immigrants during the early 1800s. Chicago’s growth was based on its linkage to other cities through various means of transportation by lakes, rivers, canals, and then railroads. The construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848 became a critical artery that shaped European settlement as this linked the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. Farming products could travel from Chicago and reach the Gulf of Mexico as a result of this exposure to water-based transportation routes. Many settlers saw Illinois as a land of opportunity in not only farming but also in mining. Miners were able to extract coal and lead in Illinois, which fueled development during the Industrial Revolution. However, the most influential factor that shaped the settlement of Illinois during the 1850s was the development of the Illinois Central Railroad. The route ran directly diagonal throughout the entire state connecting Chicago to Cairo for 700 miles. The most southern city in Illinois, Cairo, is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. As a result, many new cities in Illinois grew in population as farmers, factories, entrepreneurs, or even miners could sell their products to Chicago or reach multiple markets in the south or east. Chicago’s central geographical position created an economic powerful hub of development and experimentation in farming, manufacturing, commercial, and service industries. Ask participants: Q. How many of the fifteen largest cities are along a river? A. 1860 1930 2010 13 14 13 Q. How many of the cities were in a particular region? A. 1860 1930 2010 Central Plains - 13 Central Plains - 13 Central Plains - 13 Shawnee Hills - 2 Shawnee Hills - 2 Shawnee Hills - 2 Q. For what reasons did this pattern exist? A. During Chicago’s boom period, many cultural attractions were developed in close proximity to the working population. As transportation and technology developed, the American culture changed in the 1940s. Many World War II veterans took advantage of the low rate loans, and, desiring the “American Dream”, purchased homes outside Chicago’s city limits. During the 1960s, more than half of the manufacturing jobs relocated to the suburbs to take advantage of lower taxes and the ability to transport goods using interstate roads. Suburban sprawl distributed manufacturing and service companies throughout the northeast part of the state. Q. How did Illinois compare with the rest of the United States? A. Consider how much the population of Illinois increased compared to the increase in the United States. What percentage of people in the United States lived in Illinois during the various time periods? After adding cones from the 1930 Census, ask participants to consider how many of the cities are in rural areas. 1860 1930 2010 Illinois 1,711,951 7,630,654 12,830,632 United States 31,443,321 123,202,624 308,745,538 Percentage of people living in Illinois 5.4% 6.1% 4.1% Q. How many cities in the new top fifteen in 1930 were also in the top fifteen in 1860? What percentage is that? A. 9, 60% Q. How many cities in the new top fifteen in 2010 were also in the top fifteen in 1860? In 1930? A. 1860: 7 of 15, 46%; 1930: 5 of 15, 33% Q. Where are most of the large cities in Illinois located in 2010? Why? A. Near the Chicago metropolitan area where there are many jobs. Q. Generally speaking, how would you describe the majority of population movement and growth in the Illinois over the past one hundred years? A.